The invention relates to a safety device to prevent overpressure situations of trapped volume spaces filled with incompressible fluids.
When incompressible fluids in a closed volume, like a vessel or pipe, are subjected to high temperatures, the effects are dangerous. The fluid expands more rapidly than the surrounding metal of the pressure vessel or pipe and causes an overstress situation.
Typically, a person must handle this type of overstressing situation by manually opening or closing valves in order to reduce or add the volume of the displace fluid. The task is dangerous since an error by the worker would likely cause a rupture of high temperature, high pressure fluids.
A need exists for a reliable system in which a person is not required to correct the overstress manually.
The invention is a safety device for a trapped volume space for use as overpressure protection. The invention is a housing forming a chamber within a trapped volume space having a incompressible fluid, a compressible material disposed in the chamber, and a pressure relief component in communication with the compressible material and the incompressible fluid. The pressure relief component is adapted to break at a predetermined point thereby increasing the trapped volume space by compressing the compressible material and resulting in a reduced pressure in the trapped volume space.
The invention is also a pressure relief device for a subsea Christmas tree.
The invention is a method for preventing overpressure situations in a trapped volume space. The method begins by disposing the pressure device in a trapped volume space for use as overpressure protection. The method ends by engaging the pressure relief component when the pressure of the incompressible fluid reaches a set pressure limit and reducing the pressure of the incompressible fluid by permitting the incompressible fluid to commingle with the compressible material.